St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-10-24
THE LESSONS OF THE SEASON
Treating of the Monuments
Erec ed by Falling Leaves.


At the Church of the Redeemer last
evening Rev. NJ. d. Shutter preached
an interesting sermon on the lessons
of the Season." He said: This season is
suggestive of melancholy to many minds
when they look upon the forest and be-
hold only brown mass eS of shriveled
foliage where the banners of summer
waved SO proudly; when they see trees
without even a Withered leaf stand desc
late, their black traeery of branches
against the yellow evening sky. But cour-
age and joy, despite the landscape. The
pie no end of trouble about their lawns,
that nestle along the walks, or lie rot
ting upon the wayside pools-come to
us with even higher message than
they did in spring time. The evangel
they bring us is not that ''we all do fade
as leaf" but that before we fade we
shall work as did the leaf, patiently and
lovingly, to accomplish something
whereby men shall remember us after
we have fallen from the tree of life.
Really there is nothing more melancholy
in the sight of tree stripped of its
foliage, than in the sight of
ing has been torn down and the work
men have departed. The work of the
year upon the tree has been accom-
plished when the leaves take Oh the if
bright hues and file away. How do the
leaves work? The methods of nature
are best for man. Let him look where
the divine will freely expresses itself.
unhindered by the human. and find his
best example. The leaves work unit
edly. There is no schism OF discord
among them. They work for one OBJ
ject, the upbuilding of the tree. Man
takes the result of their work and turns
no weapon of destruction is used by
builder upon builder. They work to-
gether, each one in its place, and by
their continued efforts the tree is lifted
upon broader foundations into larger
areas of shade, How they throw con-
tempt upon our petty strifeS, and teach
us that in the worlds mighty work we
ought to stand shoulder to shoulder.
Working thus together, the labor of no
single leaf is lost. They work unself-
ishly. Thei respect the rights of other
leaves. They may know nothing of the
golden rule, but they observe it better
others growth and adjust themselves to
it. They are devoted to the life of the
tree. Their business is to minister to
its wants, to provide food. They must
get it from the sun and air, and where
these are the leaf must go. They do not
think of themselves; they may not pre-
serve their own symmetry, but they are
faithful to their trust. They work
silently. Their mightiest pillars
are reared without sound of trowel
or shout of exultation, while men ex-
pect to bring about great results by VIC
lence and noise. Gentleness is power,
and wisdom needs no brawling mob to
enforce its mandates. The leaves work
reverently. The tendency of our times
is to cast aside all that went before us.
Every noble monument of religion, lit
erature and art has been furnished by
sacrilegious touch. We do not worship
the past, but we cannot disconnect our
selves from it and work to any purpose.
The divine plan which underlies all our
human plans, which unifies all human
effort, binds us to the best and most en-
during that our fathers have wrought,
as the tree unjtes the work of the last
leaf that fell with the first that budded